The Effects of Highways on Guanaco Movement in Patagonia

Reading layer `pn_monteleon' from data source 
  `/Users/zoefairlie/Desktop/Thesis/shapefiles_monteleon/pn_monteleon.shp' 
  using driver `ESRI Shapefile'
Simple feature collection with 1 feature and 1 field
Geometry type: POLYGON
Dimension:     XY
Bounding box:  xmin: 484907.2 ymin: 4408137 xmax: 524220.4 ymax: 4438420
Projected CRS: WGS 84 / UTM zone 19S

Research Questions:

1. How do highways impact guanacos’ movement?

2. Do guanacos respond differently to roads with varying traffic volumes?

Study Area

Hypothesis and Predictions

I hypothesize that guanaco movement will be impacted by the highway and that guanancos will avoid crossing roads with high traffic.

• Guanacos are less likely to cross the highway
  
• Guanacos will be more likely to cross at night since they are more active
• Female guanacos will be less likely to cross the highway since they often have chulengos (baby guanacos)

Example Guanaco Movement

MLG06: Female, 113 kg

Differences in Road Crossings by Road Type

Sex

Time of Day

Season

Note: Guanaco data spans from October 2019 through November 2021.